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Photo by John Wagner

Photo by John Wagner

Photo by John Wagner

FAIRBANKS — For some people, dancing is a part of life. For others, dancing is representative of life.

That latter sentiment is the perspective embraced by staff and leaders of Dance Theatre Fairbanks, which is working to build a full-time dance studio in a building that once housed the Fairbanks fire department.

“The attitude we’re taking is that it matters how kids look at dance and what it means to their lives. What they learn with us translate(s) into all facets of life,” said Diane Christiansen, executive director of the nonprofit organization.

Dance Theatre Fairbanks has been a presence in the city for more than a decade since being created as Northland Dance by Pat Sims, who also directed the organization in its first years. Christiansen said Sims’ vision was to focus on the importance of dance as exercise and education in addition to providing an outlet for young dancers.

At the time, those dancers mostly practiced ballet, but the school has evolved, expanding its scope to include other forms of dance ranging from jazz and tap to hip-hop and ballet, always staying accessible to various ages and skill levels.

“It is very challenging with this geography to get out and do something. You have trouble in the long, cold winter in Fairbanks keeping active, and not all kids are into sports,” Christiansen said. “They need activity, too.”

But while the former firehouse on Seventh Avenue has six dance studios and plenty of space for dance lessons, Christiansen said the difficulty comes in finding performance venues. Like many arts organizations in the community, DTF faces challenges finding an open stage or performance area, such as the Centennial Center for the Arts — which isn’t always available.

That’s why, shortly after the organization moved into the firehouse from its former location in the Co-op Building downtown between Second and Third avenues, an effort to build a new stage in the main floor of the firehouse began. In the garage where fire trucks were parked when the building functioned as a firehouse, Dance Theatre Fairbanks hopes to build a

70-by-50-foot space into a stage for dancing, acting, singing and other community performances.

“We’re hoping for interest in the community with this, especially since the theater will be available to community people and groups,” Christiansen said of the process.

Construction is in a first phase focusing on the stage itself, including the platform, painting and curtains, which Christiansen hopes to fund via grants and donations. The next phase will address seating needs, and the third and final phase will involve lighting and sound needs. Christiansen said the goal is to have the theater complete by 2010.

While the first phase isn’t scheduled to be finished until February, it is already suited to function as a “black box theater,” Christiansen said. A black box theater is a simple platform with minimal facilities. Many are surrounded by three black walls, thus giving it the name. That sort of simple design makes the stage perfect for Dance Theatre Fairbanks’ upcoming Can Dance For Food show, which opens Wednesday.

“It works for small performances. We’ve rented bleachers from the fairgrounds and chairs, so we can fit about 175 people in there now,” she said, noting the second annual Can Dance for Food performance will be a smaller production than DTF usually puts on.

“This will be a much smaller scale. Since we’re trying to build this theater, we decided to take the time and effort and money that would have gone into a full show and put it towards the theater.”

Jessica Cooper, a DTF staff member and director for the Can Dance for Food show, said it will be a medley that highlights DTF dancers and performers from other dance companies in Fairbanks. Tundra Caravan, a Middle Eastern dance troupe, will perform two dances, and Dance For a Cause, a group of mothers from the community, also will perform.

“It won’t be specifically a Christmas show. It will celebrate Winter Solstice, Christmas and other elements of the season,” Cooper said. “It will be great fun and really entertaining.”

In addition to enjoying the chance to perform, the dancers will be contributing to a good cause: supporting the Fairbanks Community Food Bank.

“Our landlord ... is the food bank, and we’ve had an affinity with them for some time, even before we moved into this building,” Christiansen said.

The Can Dance for Food event offers discount admission to anyone who donates three or more canned goods. All donations are taken to the Food Bank, Christiansen said, a contribution that arguably is more important this year than in previous years due to the recession.

“While those of us who traditionally donate will continue to do so, with the times we’re facing, we all have to back off on giving somehow,” she said. “We hope to help overcome that shortfall with this collection.”

The focus on community and community resources is representative of the atmosphere within DTF, Christiansen said. She said the organization “is trying to incorporate classical technique with more of a fun, open attitude.” That has influenced one of DTF’s goals; to “change the face of dance education” in Fairbanks, she added.

That family focus may be the reason membership in DTF has grown from 47 people when the organization was created to 150 members today. Christiansen said Dance Theatre Fairbanks is proud to be a part of the Fairbanks arts community and hopes the development of the planned community theater will tighten its alliance with other organizations while benefiting as many performance groups as possible.

“This is meant to be something for everyone, and with an arts community as active as this one, we could use the extra (performing) space,” she said.

Dance Theatre Fairbanks is located in the Firehouse Studios at 656 Seventh Ave. Donations of canned goods can be dropped off at any time, as can contributions to benefit the new theater. More information is available at www.dancetheatrefairbanks.com.